Major upgrade brings ticket distribution, revenue management and CRM systems up to speed to fulfill customer needs
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Dec. 18, 2014 – Cubic Transportation Systems, a business segment of Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) and a leading integrator of information and payment systems and services for intelligent travel solutions, has won a major multi-million euro modernization program for Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail against stiff international competition.
Cubic led a team of four providers with specialist transport expertise to deliver the best solution for Irish Rail’s new fully integrated ticketing management and distribution system. The combined capabilities of Cubic and Sqills, along with its other delivery partners also meet the requirements of Irish Rail’s ‘Customer First’ Programme, which puts the customer at the heart of its operation.
Driving the transformation is Sqills’ ‘S3 Passenger’ sales and distribution solution, providing both open and closed ticketing for the rail industry. Cubic chose the package because of its innovative nature, off-the-shelf availability and alignment with Irish Rail’s objectives.
Sqills provides dynamic ticket pricing on bus and rail routes, similar to how the airline industry matches tickets to balance supply and demand. This means customers who choose off-peak travel routes can get the best value on their journey prices.
Gerry Culligan, Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail commercial director said, “Our existing ticketing systems had several dated legacy components which affect the customer experience. We were determined to bring these aspects of the business, such as ticketing and CRM tools, up to modern standards and look forward to working with Cubic’s team to achieve that.”
The winning team delivering the core solution is:
Cubic’s solution in its response to the Iarnród Éireann requirements also includes:
- Cubic Transportation Systems – the system integrator will lead the implementation team and oversee the project management, systems engineering and systems integration capabilities, alongside the delivery of support requirements
- Sqills – the sales and distribution software supplier for the bus and rail industry will supply the fully integrated S3 Passenger system comprising revenue management, booking engine, seat reservation system, inventory management system, pricing engine, CRM front-end, booking office and handheld solutions
- CRMCulture – the CRM integration provider will configure the model bringing multiple CRM tools together, providing a uniquely functional, customer-centric solution
- Rail Solutions – part of national rail operator SNCF in France, Rail Solutions brought its expertise and rail industry knowledge to the group, and will provide comprehensive advice and support during both the requirement’s capture and run phases to support Cubic in ensuring the solution fulfilled all Irish Rail’s objectives.
“The background to the ticketing upgrade was to introduce a new way of working at Irish Rail. The new system introduces flexible ways to book and process tickets so, for instance, customers can change their date and time of travel quickly and easily, and in a self-service manner, if they need to,” said Jonathan Williams, Cubic’s key account manager.
“The benefit is to encourage and incentivize more passengers to use the service through customer insight / loyalty and targeted campaigns. That, in return, leads to a greater efficiency in Irish Rail’s infrastructure and better value of delivery across the network which will ultimately lead to increased revenues for Irish Rail’s operations.”
The Cubic-led solution provides a number of strategic benefits across all levels of the train operator’s business, enabling fares to be set from a single source and to update them instantly when needed across all channels. Journey intelligence will be centralized into the CRM platform, segmenting data to benefit across Irish Rail’s operations and supporting a high level of customer care.
Optimizing train occupancy provides a better passenger experience and enables the sale of cheaper tickets on off-peak services, matching supply with demand.
Matt Cole, Cubic Transportation Systems’ executive vice president for strategy, business development and diversification said, “This is a fantastic win for Cubic in what is a new geographical business region. It clearly demonstrates the more complete offering and solution we can bring to the entire mobility market and will enable us to maximize opportunities to deliver similarly innovative solutions to both existing and new customers.”
About Cubic Transportation Systems
Cubic® Transportation Systems, Inc., is part of Cubic Corporation. Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and secure communications systems. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services for U.S. and allied nations.
Cubic® Transportation Systems, Inc., is a leading integrator of payment and information technology and services for intelligent travel solutions. Cubic delivers integrated systems for transportation and traffic management, delivering tools for travellers to choose the smartest and easiest way to travel and pay for their journeys, and enabling transportation authorities and agencies to manage demand across the entire transportation network – all in real-time. Cubic specializes in design, development, manufacture, supply, installation, integration, services and information. Services provided by Cubic include on-site management, central systems, operations support, patron support, business support and field services.
Every year, more than 24 billion transportation payment transactions are processed using Cubic payment and information systems worldwide. Cubic has delivered over 20 regional back office operations which together integrate over 450 transport operators and serve over 38 million people every day in major markets around the world. Active projects include London; Brisbane (Southeast Queensland) region, Australia; New York/New Jersey region; Washington, D.C. /Baltimore/Virginia region; Los Angeles region; San Diego region; San Francisco region; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Chicago; Atlanta region; Miami (South Florida) region; Vancouver and Edmonton, Canada; Sydney (New South Wales), Australia; Germany; and Scandinavia.
For more information about Cubic, see the company’s website at http://www.cubic.com/.
Contacts:
Sara Poloni
HAMG360
PH: +44 208 315 7940
sara.poloni@HAMG360.com
Suzanne Hatcher
Corporate Communications
Cubic Corporation
PH: 858-505-2430
Cell: 858-774-4736
suzanne.hatcher@cubic.com